1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headphone device that is both easy to wear and comfortable when being worn.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, headphone devices have been provided with driver units at each end of a resilient headband with the headphone device then being worn with the headband put around the occipital region of head.
FIG. 1 shows an example of such kind of headphone device as described above. Here, a headphone device a comprises driver units b, b (with only one being shown in FIG. 1) and a headband c supporting the driver units b, b at each end. Electro-acoustic converting means appropriate for converting electrical signals into acoustic oscillations are then provided within the driver units b, b.
The headband c is constituted by an approximately belt-shaped flexible material and comprises, for example, a metal spring material, with the driver units b, b being supported so as to be suspended at the ends of the headband c.
The headphone device a is put on a head d by slightly broadening the space between the ends of the headband c from the side of occipital region of head e so that the driver units b, b are brought in position on the ears, with the driver units b, b then pressed onto auricles f, f (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1). When the headphone device a is put onto the head d, the headphone device a is positioned in such a manner that parts of the ends of the headband c are on the upper parts of the auricles f, f with the headband c being put around from the back side, and the driver units b, b are pressed onto the auricles f, f by the resilience of the headband c. In this way, the auricles f, f become loosely sandwiched between the headband c with the driver units b, b. At the same time, the middle of the headband c comes into contact with or rides on the neck or collar of the wearer at the side of the occipital region of head e so as to be put on the head d.
When this related headphone device is put on as described above, the driver units b, b support the weight of the headphone device a which is supported as a result of the resilience of the headband c and as a result of the driver units b, b and both ends of the headband c sandwiching the auricles f, f. However, this structure cannot be considered to be actively supporting the weight of the headphone device a because the middle part of the headband c is coming into contact with or riding on the occipital region of head e, the neck or the collar at the side of the occipital region of head e.
Unfortunately, when, for example, the headband c comes into contact with the collar of clothes with movement of the head of the user of the headphone device a, so that stress is generated in the headband c to easily change the position of the headband c. As a result, the positional relationship between the driver units b, b and the auricles f, f is changed with the movement of the headband c. This causes changes in volume and quality of the sound that the user can hear from the left and right drivers b, b and unnecessary pressure exerted on the auricles f, f, which can make the user feel uncomfortable.
The interposing of a hinge etc. between the driver units b, b and the headband c so that changes in the position of the headband c do not affect the driver units b, b has been considered as a countermeasure for the above problems.
However, with the headphone device a, a certain amount of pressure is required for the driver units b, b to be pressed against the auricles f, f. If a structure is then adopted where a hinge etc. is interposed between the driver units b, b and the headband c, it becomes difficult for the force due to the resilience of the headband c to be transmitted to the driver units b, b and the force pressing the driver units b, b against the auricles f, f therefore becomes weak. It has therefore been very difficult to achieve a situation where both the relationship of the positions of the driver units b, b and the auricles f, f do not change due to changes in the position of the headband c and the force pressing the driver units b, b against the auricles f, f at a certain pressure is maintained, with this problem never having been fully resolved.
When the headband c for the headphone device a is constructed from a resilient material where a metal spring material etc. is approximately belt-shaped so that the position of the headphone device a being put on mostly depends just on the headband c, if the resilience of the headband c is made large, the driver units b, b are pressed strongly against the auricles f, f. It then becomes difficult to make ensured stability in wearing the headphone device a in compatible with alleviation of the load placed on the head d or the auricles f, f when the headphone device a is worn for long periods of time by making the headphone device a in compliance with all of shapes of heads or auricles whose individual differences are large.
With a structure such as that of the headphone device a where the driver units b, b and both ends of the headband c sandwich the auricles f, f, no mechanism is provided for maintaining clearance between the driver units b, b and the ends of the headband c when the headphone device a is put on. Before putting on the headphone device a the user therefore makes the gap between the driver units b, b and the ends of the headband c wider than the width of the auricles f, f and after putting on the headphone device a the user has the troublesome task of adjusting the gap between the driver units b, b and the headband c by groping.